


like spring that suddenly comes (I keep feeling like love will come too)

by thewoundupbird



Category: Mamamoo, Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-19 12:53:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14237709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewoundupbird/pseuds/thewoundupbird
Summary: a series of drabbles from whatever fandoms suit my fancy(points if you know what song the title comes from)Also if you like a particular drabble enough lemme know! I may just make it into a full fledged fic~





	1. moonsun- (werewolf au)

She remembers the first time the change had happened. Her father had been shaking, shoving his glasses up his nose as his eyes widened in fear. Her whole body had ached as her teeth felt too large for her mouth and her whole body burned as her skin seemed too thin, stretching around breaking bones.

“It sometimes skips generations, Yongsun-ah,” he had whispered when he sat her down a few hours earlier. The signs had apparently all been there but he had hoped against everything that this malicious genetic defect would skip his daughter as well. But in the end, Yongsun was forcefully locked in a small storage closet in the basement of the apartment complex that her family lived in. A steel collar around her neck connected her to a rod firmly installed on the cement ground. She whimpered around the gag in her mouth as her father carefully bound her arms and legs with silver. And when he was done he stepped back, almost tripping over himself as he stumbled to close the door behind him.

“I still love you,” he had whispered to her as she writhed in agony on the floor, eventually succumbing to the pain as the world exploding in a flash of painful white.

(Yongsun blinks as she recovers from the question, trying to slip the slick idol smile back on her face. She knows that when she watches this clip a few weeks later she will see the moment where her mask shatters, her mouth pulling downward and eyes dimming in an attempt to hide the emotion that threatens to bubble to the surface.

“I’m sorry,” she clarifies, subtly clenching her fists around the fabric of her skirt under the table. “Can you say that again?”

She sees Moonbyul glance at her curiously out of the corner of her eye. She’s the only one who probably really noticed her break.

“I asked if you have a close relationship with your parents. Since Parents’ Day is coming up after all, we wanted you to give a greeting to your parents for our viewers.” The radio DJ smiles again adjusting his headphones over his ears. She nods, trying to make her eyes glassy again. Shifting forward she hovers close to the microphone in front of her, pulling her lips up into a big grin.

“Daddy,” she says, giggling childishly as the word. “Thank you for helping me get to where I am. I know you didn’t want me to be a singer and we didn’t talk for a long time, but I hope you can give Mamamoo a lot of love. I love you.” Yongsun smiles again for good measure making a heart with her hands toward the camera recording the live radio broadcast. No one asks why she didn’t mention her mother. No one asks her why she remains relatively silent for the rest of the interview.)

*****

To say she is a little indignant would be an understatement. After the dreadful and practically hellish process of getting into RBW as a trainee, she had to deal with this new girl who had the nerve to be rude to her! Yongsun was used to being ostracized. She was slightly off the cuff in her interpersonal interactions and awkward. That’s why Wheein and Hyejin would stare at her like she was an alien sometimes when she would silently practice by herself. She didn’t mind that though. Being by herself was easier. Less blood to clean up.

But this new girl. Moon Byulyi. She came in with long black hair and a neutral expression that made the wolf in her gnash its teeth in agitation. It only got worse when she let the girl borrow her heels for a practice and the girl had talked to her like she wasn’t a stranger and thoughtlessly forgot to return the shoes to boot. Yongsun had to leave for the restroom after that, splashing her face with icy cold water and making her glowing golden eyes return back to their regular brown.

They had been walking on eggshells around each other for the past week and a half since then. Yongsun struggled between trying to be friendly and cordial and hiding the snarling wolf within her that wanted to assert itself over this new girl.

Yongsun dances in front of the mirror tonight, almost frantically with frenzied movements. Tonight is a full moon and all the tell-tale signs are there. Short-temper, strange cravings, enhanced senses. Usually she would be in her apartment by now, chained up and knocked out by a few horse tranquilizers that she managed to get through a family contact. But she had struggled in dance practice and needed everything perfect before she could leave, full moon be damned.

When she’s finally done with the song, she mops the sweat up with a ragged towel on the floor, examining the recording from its tripod.

She hears the lithe footsteps of Moonbyul walking down the hall and she tries to square her shoulders a little in preparation. Yongsun foolishly hopes against anything that the other girl is going to the recording studio instead of the practice dance room but of course there is a pause and from the mirror Yongsun sees Moonbyul peek in. She doesn’t turn to look at her but instead gazes at her through the mirror. The intensity of that girl’s stare makes something burn low in her belly and her teeth suddenly feel too sharp in her mouth.

“Can I practice here, too?” Moonbyul asks, quirking her head a little to the side. She almost seems to expect her to say no.

“Sure,” Yongsun says easily. She tries not to breathe in too deeply when Moonbyul shuts the door behind her. In seconds all Yongsun can smell is the other girl and it makes her want to claw at her chest. It unsettles her in such a way that makes her want to run away and ignore her for the rest of her time at the company. Of course, the source of her problem walks closer to her, eying the hand phone she has clutched tightly in her hand with curiosity.

“Did you record yourself dancing?” Moonbyul asks, pointing to the iPhone nearly crushed in her hands. Yongsun swallows at the proximity and tries to ignore the way the wolf suddenly wants to frantically claw its way to the surface. She settles for a nod instead of a monosyllabic answer just because she doesn’t know if her teeth have sharpened yet.

Of course Moonbyul isn’t picking up on her body tensing or her lack of eye contact. Instead, the other girl only steps closer to her, face suddenly right at her shoulder.

“Could I see it? Maybe we could work on the moves together?” And then unexpectedly that straight-faced girl smiles. Yongsun blinks several times just to make sure she isn’t dreaming.

“S-sure,” she stammers as she unlocks her phone, trying desperately to ignore how close Moonbyul is to her. She licks her bottom lip nervously as she clicks on the video ignoring the distinct lack of personal space. For nearly three painstaking minutes she feels the heat from Moonbyul’s body against her shoulder and her skin itches at the almost contact. The wolf bristles beneath her skin and for the first time since she’s come to the company, it hurts to contain it.

When the video is done, Yongsun turns to look at Moonbyul who still hasn’t moved. She realizes that without heels, Moonbyul is a little taller than her as she looks up into eyes covered by choppy bangs. Yongsun parts her lips to say something when that familiar itching spreads across her skin. Trying not to gasp, she stumbles away, heading toward the door.

“I-I have to go home now,” she gasps out as she bolts out the door. Everything starts to become blurry as she sprints down stairs, past other trainess, and outside the building.

She is incredibly thankful that she found a single stall lockable restroom in the dingy strip mall a block away. She doesn’t worry as much about other people now as she locks the door behind her with trembling fingers, pulling out a pill bottle. Popping one tranquilizer in her mouth she swallows without water, sighing with relief. Yongsun staggers toward the sink, head bowing as her hands clench onto the porcelain of the sink. Even though the world is blurry she can see her hands curling unnaturally into claws as she slowly raises her head and looks at her changing face through hazy eyes.

“…not a… monster.” She doesn’t know why she tells herself that every time but it still sounds somewhat natural on her tongue. It’s the last thing she remembers before the world becomes edged with black and she collapses onto all fours.

*****

Things with Moonbyul get worse before they get better. The other girl approaches her the next morning, hands awkwardly stuffed in her pockets and eyes not meeting Yongsun’s.

“Where did you go yesterday?” she asks, meeting her gaze through the mirror. Yongsun pauses, wiping at her dripping forehead with the back of her head. Even though it’s hot in the studio, she’s wearing sweats to cover the bruises from last night. Although she’s not conscious for most of the transformation, the strain from her body turning into a wolf always has the side effects of bruises and a soreness that lasts a few days. That part of her lingers and no matter how much she desperately wants to pursue her dream recklessly without abandon there are limitations that threaten to drown her.

Stiffening her upper lip, she turns and looks right into Moonbyul’s eyes.

“You stole my heels and never gave them back. Also I’m older than you by a whole year! And… and you may be a great dancer but what gives you the right to choose now to suddenly pay attention to me?”

Moonbyul blinks owlishly at the barrage of words from Yongsun. She self-consciously slaps her hand over mouth. She’s normally quiet and polite around strangers. And sure her and Moonbyul worked for the same company but they certainly weren’t friends.

“S-sorry,” mumbles Yongsun, her head dropping to stare at the beat up pair of sneakers that Moonbyul is wearing. But the other girl just laughs. She jerks her head up in surprise as Moonbyul wrinkles her nose at her, releasing a full on belly laugh. Yongsun stares at her in disbelief as the laugh dies down and finally is just a wry half smile.

“I’m sorry about all those misunderstandings. But to be fair you totally have a baby face. How was I supposed to know you were older than me?”

Yongsun scoffs.

“You can’t just treat strangers based on their looks, Moonbyul-ssi. Looks can be deceiving.” Yongsun doesn’t mean to, but something primal stirs in her stomach when she looks up into Moonbyul’s eyes. Can you see the real me underneath this sweet looking girl, she wonders.

“True,” Moonbyul replies easily, that slightly obnoxious and slightly charming smirk curling her lips. “But maybe I’ll get to know you better so that I’m no longer deceived.”

Yongsun’s face screws up into a frown at the comment as Moonbyul starts to walk out the door waggling a hand playfully in her direction. She tilts her head to the side, considering the other girl until she abruptly pauses at the door, throwing Yongsun another cheeky grin.

“The reason why I started to talk to you now…”

Yongsun frowns more.

“Is because I realized… you’re pretty.”

Before she can properly come up with a reply Moonbyul disappears in a blur of dark hair and light airy laughter. And no matter how much she practices, Yongsun can’t quite wipe her smile off her face.


	2. moonsun - canon

It starts with a kiss.

It’s unexpected in some ways but in other ways Solar could have spotted it years ago when she still was Kim Youngsun and had a roundness to her cheeks that wasn’t quite idol appropriate.

Some people say she’s dense. That she isn’t observant. And it’s true to an extent. Sudden movements startle her. Bugs make her scream. Guys hitting on her go way over her head. But for some reason Byulyi does not. Solar thinks that she felt the shift in their relationship like gravity, inevitable and inescapable. Byulyi is uncapping Yongsun’s water bottle and even though she’s thirsty herself, she lets Yongsun take a long sip. And when Yongsun looks back at Byulyi to give her the water bottle she sees the other girl’s eyes peeking from under her dark bangs. And there is a moment of complete transparency before that vulnerable emotion was glossed over like a curtain pulled in front of a window. That hungry look was gone from Byulyi’s eyes in an instant and all Yongsun was looking at was glass.

But she remembered that look for a very long time and all the other looks that followed.

Yongsun wasn’t stupid and Solar isn’t either.

****

Sometimes Solar just wishes that people could read her mind. It would make interviews a hell of a lot easier. Dance practices would go off without a hitch. And Moonbyul would have known when she first kissed Solar that she likes a little bit more teeth than usual.

But Moonbyul likes this mysterious quality of Solar’s.

“It’s like I’m looking into your eyes and I’m looking into a mirror,” Moonbyul whispers into the nape of her neck once, her breath warming the downy baby hairs there. Solar makes a noncommittal sound as she feels a gentle mouth tease the skin near the underside of her jaw.

“Does that mean I’m shallow?” She doesn’t mean for there to be a slight hardness in her tone. Solar compensates for the question by gently caressing Moonbyul’s hand rubbing circles against her bare hip.

“No,” is murmured against the shell of her ear. “It’s like a still lake. You look at that surface but you cannot fathom just how much depth it has.”

Solar makes a pleased sound and rolls over. She’s nose to nose with Moonbyul whose dark hair makes her pale face seem almost doll-like. Long lashes flutter as Solar reaches out and rubs a thumb along the smoothness of her cheekbone. 

“Are you just trying to get me to kiss you?” Solar teases, barely concealing the warmth she feels for the other girl.

Moonbyul stares at her, the other girl unusually serious.

“I can’t stop looking at you,” Moonbyul whispers as she leans forward, cupping her jaw with a gentle hand, “because every time I see you there is something new to appreciate.”

Solar feels her cheeks warm and lets out an awkward laugh.

“Y-you need to stop it with your greasiness.”

Moonbyul almost looks insulted and Solar sighs as she turns her head and presses her lips against the inside of the other girl’s palm. Her eyes soften almost instantly and Solar takes it as the approval she needs to tug a bit and pull Moonbyul closer. Just as Solar leans forward to press her mouth against hers Moonbyul whispers against her lips.

“Everything I say is true you know.”

Solar silences her with a kiss, winding her hands through dark hair and trying to stay grounded in this moment in time, not the looming shadow of the future.

*****

They’re not girlfriends. But they’re definitely not friends either. Friends don’t look at each other like they do. Friends don’t treat each other like they do. And friends certainly don’t kiss each other like they do. 

But in front of the cameras Solar tries to keep a very hard line between the Solar behind closed doors who just responds to Moonbyul’s greasy comments with a lazy kiss and the Solar who loudly protests Moonbyul’s words with a blush and nervous laugh. She supposes they are the same, as a make-up brush sweeps up the contour of her nose. 

Solar watches Moonbyul out of the corner of her eye, the girl’s hair now dyed an ash blonde, as her eyes flutter open and closed under the make-up artist’s patient hands. She feels a pang of guilt as she recalls just how late she had made Moonbyul stay up last night.

“Byul-ah,” she says toward the other girl who trusts in her chair so violently that the artist nearly stabs Moonbyul with an eyeliner pen. She still just blinks, completely unphased as she looks expectantly at Solar through the mirror. 

“Are you alright?” Solar asks lightly as managers scurry about the room and Wheein and Hwasa roar behind them about some new internet meme.

Moonbyul’s mouth twitches, eyes never living hers through the mirror.

“I’m very tired.”

Solar feels heat rise in her cheeks and she ducks her head just a fraction, giving their manager a sideglance. The man doesn’t even bat an eye.

“I’m sorry about that,” she says honestly trying to convey the apology in her voice. “I’ll try to make sure that you get a lot of rest then.”


	3. seulrene- vampire au

Seulgi always felt like she was drunk now.

She sat curled up against the window, cheek pressed against the cool glass. The darkness of night didn’t make her eyes burn as much as she peered through half-lidded eyes at the city of Seoul colored grey with moonlight. Even though she was in some new apartment building removed from the city, she could almost hear the whispers of people running around.

Humans, she thought. And she was not one of them. Not anymore. 

The thought made her mouth heavy and tentatively she reached up and pressed a fingertip against the new sharpness of her teeth. The sensation repulsed her, she knew. But it was hard to feel any sort of strong emotion in this strange haze of lethargy. She felt like a drugged tiger, resting in a cage and flicking its tail harmlessly. 

Seulgi was just some declawed monster leashed to a room she hadn’t left in months. Joohyun’s little pet who she would visit sometimes and play with when she wasn’t too busy with work.

“Seulgi-yah.”

She glanced behind her and saw Joohyun. The other woman was slipping off her heels, tossing her long hair over one shoulder. She was wearing a new business suit and the commanding air it gave Joohyun’s slight frame was impressive. Seulgi watched Joohyun tug off her suit jacket, leaving her in just a white button down tucked into her long skirt. With eyes half-open she returned her gaze to the outdoors, ignoring the way her body felt suddenly hot. It always became like this when Joohyun was nearby. Like it was seeking something from the other woman. Sometimes it was blood. But other times she would still be left unsatisfied as she pulled away, the sharp tang of iron thick on her tongue.

“Did you just wake up?” Joohyun asked briskly, crossing over to her and sitting a respectable distance away on the love seat.

Seulgi nodded, eyes sliding to the way Joohyun’s skirt rode up as she crossed one leg over the other.

“Are you hungry?”

Seulgi nodded. It wasn’t necessarily true. She didn’t need to feed every day. Joohyun had even mentioned that to her on one of the rare occasions when she hadn’t fallen asleep immediately after eating. With her face burrowed in Joohyun’s lap and nimble fingers massaging her scalp, Seulgi had heard words distorted like they were whispered through water. 

“You don’t have to eat every day if you don’t want to.”

But how else would she get Joohyun to look at her? To touch her? To acknowledge her as more than some lazy pet who would lounge in various states of disarray in Joohyun’s private apartment?

So every time Joohyun returned to her and offered, Seulgi would take. Because out of all the things in her new life, Joohyun was the only thing that she was familiar with. She was the only constant she could cling to and feel a semblance of security. And yet, wasn’t Joohyun to blame for this new life of fear and strangeness. Would she be gulping down blood dripping from a pale wrist, trying not to gag, if she hadn’t met Joohyun? Would she be hiding from the burning overstimulation of daylight and the outdoors if it wasn’t for Joohyun? Would she be-

“What are you thinking about, Seulgi-yah?” Joohyun asked quietly. She blinked owlishly as the other woman reached toward her and grasped at Seulgi’s hand that was limply resting in her lap. 

“I’m thirsty.”

Joohyun’s expression, colored in slight concern and worry, brightened. This solution was an easy fix. Much less troublesome than dark thoughts and intangible emotions. 

Seulgi twisted Joohyun’s hand so that it was facing palm up. She heard Joohyun shift closer as she pressed her mouth against the soft skin of the other woman’s wrist. When she breathed against the fragile skin she could hear the slightest inhale and the sound intrigued her. She glanced up from Joohyun’s wrist and saw that the other girl was looking at her, eyes wide and very dark with something. 

“What is it?” she murmured quietly, mouth pressed partially against the soft skin. Joohyun licked her lips and Seulgi could see the tip of fangs.

“You should eat.”

“Are you sure? You’re alright, Joohyun-unnie?”

The other woman clenched her jaw and Seulgi stared, transfixed at just how dark her eyes were. The longer she stared the more she felt compelled… to do something. But the need she felt starting to burn within her was tempered with a slight wistfulness. Wistfulness for a time that seemed forever ago when the soft question would always be received with Joohyun’s bashful smile and a soft admission that would take them both by surprise. 

What happened to the times where they would enter a world that was only for them? A place where they could be honest and speak what they felt. 

But, as Seulgi felt herself leaning closer toward Joohyun, she wondered if that place had even existed? The more Seulgi learned about Joohyun, the more she questioned and wondered. The complicated thing about Joohyun she was finding, was that to her any lie could be a form of the truth. 

She didn’t even realize she was sitting practically in Joohyun’s lap until she felt a tentative hand settle on her waist.

“Seulgi-yah, I’m sorry. You should sit back and feed.”

“Why?”

“I was unintentionally making you do something I wanted. I forgot that I can do that if I want something badly enough.”

Seulgi blinked slowly as she watched Joohyun drop her gaze to where she still held onto a pale wrist.

“What do you mean?”

“Because I’m your sire… I can sometimes make you do what I want. You’re a bit special in that you don’t respond as quickly as others.” Joohyun smiled at her and squeezed playfully at her side like it wasn’t an insult. “But you still can be receptive to what I want if I think hard enough.”

“And what is it that you want?”

Joohyun licked her lips and there was a rare moment of conflict. She’s about to lie, Seulgi thought in her foggy brain.

“I don’t know.”

Liar.

Seulgi wondered if the old Joohyun would have lied so easily to her. But then again who was the old Joohyun? What made her so different to the girl sitting in front of her with her quiet eyes and careful touches.

“Unnie, I miss you,” Seulgi whispered, her voice sharper than the fog in her brain normally allowed. The sudden clarity the statement gave her mind almost made her wince like the time she had tried to peer at the sunlight behind thick curtains the first time after she’d been turned.

“Miss me? But you see me almost every day.” Joohyun chuckled indulgently like Seulgi was a silly child and the sound dug at her. Was she just a child in this new life, bumbling around and making little mistakes?

Before she could even think, Seulgi had leaned forward so that there was not even a breath between the two of them. The movement made Joohyun nearly go cross-eyed and her body tense. It was a rare moment where she seemed far less composed. The sight uncurled something within Seulgi that made her grimly satisfied. It was reassuring to have Joohyun not be in complete control. Equality was more familiar to her.

So it wasn’t so much effort on her part to end the space between them and press a warm mouth against Joohyun’s.

The action made Joohyun’s grip on Seulgi’s waist tighten painfully and she winced, trying to pull back. But the other girl just leaned forward and suddenly Seulgi was on her back with Joohyun leaning over her, hair hanging around them like a curtain. The moonlight, Seulgi realized slowly, made Joohyun’s hair a beautiful blueish silver. Everything was gentler in the moonlight, she thought as the other girl pressed a quivering mouth against the side of her neck. The touch made Seulgi jerk upward, something burning deep in her core.

“Is this alright?” Joohyun asked with a mouth warm with eager promise.

Seulgi slowly shut her eyes and thought of Joohyun smiling at her in their old apartment, asking a question about why a plow should be pulled by oxen instead of horses. They would never be those people again. 

She reached up and cupped Joohyun’s cheek with a tentative hand. All Seulgi had now were Joohyun’s dark eyes heavy with want and a mouth twisted darkly.

“Of course,” she lied.

And so Joohyun took her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have like 5000 words more written for this and a decent plot outline for the fic haha


	4. moonsun- canon

When she realizes it, Solar is still trainee Yongsun. Summers in Seoul are blisteringly humid and opening a window creates a threat of being covered in a sheen of sweat in a matter of minutes. But when you don’t have air conditioning and closing all the windows creates the possibility of suffocation, being covered in sweat pales in comparison to death. So Yongsun, Hyejin and Byulyi open up all the windows in their small apartment and lie on the floor in pure exhaustion.

Yongsun watches Byulyi lay completely flat on the ground, cheek pressed to the linoleum.

“Unnie,” she whines as Yongsun sat with her back to the couch watching tv.

“Yeah?”

She sees movement out of the corner of her eye and Byulyi has her chin propped on her hand, her bangs just barely covering her eyes. Yongsun can’t help but worry that Byulyi has been spending so much time practicing that she’s neglected cutting her hair.

“Have you ever been in love before?”

Yongsun blinks, leaning back thoughtfully at the question. She glances at Hyejin who is snoring quietly on the ground next to her, headphones plugged firmly into her ears.

“I don’t think so,” she says slowly, meeting Byulyi’s eyes that seem to be burning.

“You’re lucky.”

Yongsun cocks her head curiously at the question.

“Lucky?”

“I fall in love too easily. It only ends in heartbreak.”

She can’t help but unintentionally choking a laugh out despite how bitter and sad Byulyi’s words sound. After a quick look of melancholy from Byulyi, Yongsun bites her lip.

“Sorry, you just sounded like the tagline of a drama.”

“But it’s true.” Byulyi sighs and rests her head on her arms, ducking her head to stare at the floor. With a sigh, Yongsun crawls over to the despondent girl, reaching out a hand and playing with shaggy bangs.

“Did something happen today?”

A nod.

“Did the singing coach yell at you again?”

A shake.

“Did you not get dinner?”

At those words Byulyi suddenly jerks up and those burning brown eyes made an more questions die in Yongsun’s mouth.

“We’ve known each other for two years, Yongsun-unnie.”

She nods at the words, slightly confused at Byulyi’s intensity. 

“Is this about us not debuting soon enough? Byul-ah, you know-“

“I realized I fell in love, today.” Byulyi still isn’t looking at her and for some reason Yongsun’s heart starts pounding faster and she’s terrified. 

“With who?” she asks in a barely audible question. The ensuing silence is more suffocating than being thrown into a rice box outside in July.

And Byulyi looks up right then and Yongsun can’t breathe. The other girl doesn’t have to say anything. All she has to do is look right at Yongsun and she knows. She had once told Byulyi after an acting lesson had gone poorly that although her face may not be terribly expressive her eyes could speak volumes. And this is still the case.

Yongsun slowly draws back from Byulyi, gently scooting away to put some distance between them. 

“Byulyi-ah…”

“You don’t have to say anything. I know.” With a sigh the other girl stands wiping a bit at her eyes.

“I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Yongsun head hurts and her palms are sweating but she still reaches for the fabric of Byulyi’s athletic shorts as she tries to walk past her.

“Hey,” she says quietly, tugging once.

Byulyi just looks at her and there are tears in her eyes.

“This doesn’t change anything,” Yongsun lies.

And Byulyi just smiles.

This is the beginning she realizes. The ball is rolling down a path and once set in motion it can never be stopped.

*****

It’s been nearly a year. They never talk about that sweltering summer night when they were trainees. The next day nothing changes and that pattern continues. And because Byulyi never changes how she acts around Yongsun, Yongsun never changes how she acts around Byulyi. 

This changes during their first day of filming their first collaboration with Bumkey. Yongsun is now Solar, hair long and curled past her shoulders in dark waves in a slim dress and made-up eyes. She swallows as she stares at the mirror and struggles to see herself in the bright fluorescent lighting. She continues to stare even as she hears the sound of shoes tapping on linoleum before coming to a stop. Solar glances up and sees Byulyi or now Moonbyul, long dark hair slightly curled, hanging over the front of a slim fitting suit. They both gaze at each other silently and Solar feels something bottom out in her stomach.

“Wow,” Moonbyul says with a grin. But Solar ignores the light expression now on Moonbyul’s face, thinking instead of the few seconds when she had seen shock pull the other girl’s eyebrows up and eyes had darkened with something far more meaningful.

“They really went all the way with you,” jokes Moonbyul as she tugs on the curled ends of Solar’s hair. But Solar still isn’t saying anything, just staring at the other girl’s rose bud mouth and the way the lighting hits the elegant slope of Moonbyul’s nose. 

Without thinking she reaches upward and wraps a finger around the dark fabric of her silk tie. Moonbyul’s smile freezes and she slowly turns her face and looks down at Solar. 

Solar isn’t as thoughtful and careful as she wishes she was.

“Where is everyone?” Solar inquires softly as Moonbyul leans forward with her tugging until one of her arms is bracing against the back of the chair and the other against the make up desk. Moonbyul’s eyes flick to Solar’s lips and the movement sends a molten hot thrill down her spine.

“They’re all shooting,” murmurs Moonbyul, her voice uncharacteristically husky. “Wheein is doing her move with the phone.”

“I see.”

And so it is so easy to tug downward and press her mouth against Moonbyul’s. It’s just lust she thinks as a hand gently cups her waist and soft lips press almost chastely against her. As Solar threads a hand through Moonbyul’s hair she can’t help but think that the ball is careening down a path that can never be stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first moonsun fic i'd ever written!


	5. moonsun- historical au

Her shoulder itches against the scratchy fabric of the old hanbok as she stands with a line of girls outside the camp. The old branding scar still bothers her even though it had been a few years since Master Oh had pressed burning iron against the shoulder of a six year old. Number 22 barely remembers who that girl is thanks to the plentiful beatings of Master Oh. 

“What is your name?”

“It’s-”

Blinding pain and a mouth full of blood.

“I said what is your name.”

“I-I don’t remember.”

She tries to steel her expression as a short rich looking man stares at the line of girls, a perfumed handkerchief pressed against his nose and mouth to lessen the stench of them all.

“Are they girls or beasts?” he grumbles to Master Oh as he gestures toward them with his purple silk robes.

“A little bit of both,” Master Oh replies with a wicked grin full of black rotting teeth. Number 22 shudders and she hates how that evil smile widens. All the girls standing with her shiver.

“But, Master Oh, are these really the best you have? Whoever we choose must be able to connect with the crown princess and gain her trust. These slaves look like they can barely pass for being human.”

Number 22’s jaw clenches and she thinks that none of them are really human at all. Humans at least have names.

“I think you would be surprised, sir, with how capable these girls can be. You realize that during the time that they will serve this crown princess they will be continuing their training of martial arts. Their potential is second to none.”

The man coughs into his handkerchief and surveys the girls again.

“They will have to be capable of killing the crown princess that they serve. These little things can do that?”

Master Oh cackles and those black teeth shine.

“That and so much more, sir.”

The man sighs and mumbles something to himself before pulling a folded fan from his sleeve. Number 22 watches curiously at the way the wooden lacquer gleams prettily in the sunshine. A part of her wants to reach forward and feel if it is as smooth as it seems.

And then the man’s eyes lock with hers and she ducks her head quickly, feeling a flush in her cheeks. She’ll get a beating for this, she’s sure of it.

Suddenly smooth wood taps lightly at her chin, forcing her to look up. She realizes the man has chosen her, one hand firmly pressing his pretty handkerchief to his mouth and the other stiffly pointing that beautiful fan at her.

“I want this one,” he mumbles through the fabric. And Number 22 shivers.

*****

“And what are you supposed to be?”

“Her most loyal servant.”

“But where do you loyalties actually lie?”

“With the Noron faction, sir.”

Number 22 swallows as Sir Hong stops in front of her. They are walking to the crown princess’ home, days before the official marriage ceremony for her first introduction as one of Lady Kim’s palace maids. The preparation for this day has been a blur of endless training on palace manners, condensing what some little girls learned their whole lives into a month. But Number 22 takes the training as similar to holding a sword. Each bow and curtsy has to be precise and perfect or your head would be lost just like in a fight. 

“I’ve adopted you now and any mistake you make will cost me my head as well as yours.” Number 22 bows her head as she tightens her grip on the overcoat she had pulled over her head to hide her face. 

“Yes, sir.”

“Father.”

“Yes… Father.”

Number 22 stops behind Sir Hong as he pauses in front of a gate.

“It was by a stroke of pure luck that the crown princess’ father sent his daughter’s application to the King. They were practically paupers and now they’ll have everything.”

Number 22 says nothing as she drops her eyes to her leather slippers, foreign and far too extravagant for her own feet. 

“Your name will be Hong Byulyi. Master Oh, gave me your old name from before. Remember this and do not be afraid.”

Number 22 lifts her head as the gate opens and Sir Hong looks over his shoulder.

“Come Byulyi, let’s meet your new mistress.”

*****

Number 22 watches as Yongsun smiles softly at her embroidery. Her curiosity overwhelms her and she cannot help herself.

“My lady, what makes you smile so?”

“Because I’m almost done with this.”

“You have made many ribbons, my lady. What makes this one so special?”

Yongsun pouts as she examines her handiwork. 

“Does this ribbon not look pretty?”

Number 22 straightens and glances at the silk. It is a typical long strand of dark blue fabric dotted with small bunches of purple and red flowers. Strangely at the edge of the ribbon is yellow thread bunched together in some sort of strange shape. 

“Do you like it?”

Number 22 tilts her head and leans closer, trying to see the strange shapes at the edge of the ribbon when she realizes just how close she is. Pausing she tilts her head and sees Yongsun, a breathe away with a face flushed so red it is like she has a fever. 

“Are you alright, My Lady?” Number 22 asks curiously, watching the way Yongsun’s eyes darted this way and that.

“I-I’m fine! But the ribbon!” Yongsun eagerly waves the piece of fabric in front of Number 22’s nose. “Do you like it?”

Byulyi leans back, ignoring the soft sigh from Yongsun.

“Yes, it’s very pretty. But… what exactly are the things at the bottom?”

“Things?”

“Yes the… things with the yellow thread?”

And Yongsun’s face turns red again as she ducks her head.

“They’re… they’re stars.”

“Oh… I see.”

“It’s because you said you liked stars didn’t you? That’s why I put them on here.”

“Why would you put something I like on a ribbon?”

Yongsun’s mouth puckers into a pout. 

“Because this is for you! I was making you a ribbon.”

“You were going to give me… a gift?”

“Yes! But you obviously hate it so I should just…”

“No. No I want it.”

Number 22 reaches forward and gently holds Yongsun’s wrist, stopping her from flinging the ribbon into her desk.

“But you didn’t even like the stars…”

“I’ve never had a gift before.” Something hammers in her chest and Number 22 is confused by why her heart feels heavy. This is important she realizes dimly as she looks into Yongsun’s wide brown eyes. Everything feels a little dreamy with the way the light from outside colors the room in the sleepy sunlight of springtime, softening the edges of everything. 

“Byul-ah, will you take my gift?” Yongsun asks gesturing at the ribbon on the desk. 

And Byulyi just smiles. 

*****

The Prince paces restlessly in front of her, his white sleeping robes open to reveal his chest and his pant ties loose. He holds his sword, polished to a nearly impossible shine in his left hand while he gestures madly with his right.

“Do you know why I have called you here today?”

Byulyi swallows any sharp retort, instead bowing her head.

“I do not, Your Highness.”

She hears the sound of steel swing toward her but she forces her instincts to stop herself from ducking away and picking up whatever weapon she could find to fight back. 

The sword is pointed at her forehead, the tip barely touching her skin. If she leans forward she’d have a bloody cut that’d inevitably scar.

“Your Highness?” she asks calmly. Just by the way he is standing she can tell he would easily be disarmed. 

“Tell me why you think I called you here.”

“I do not know that, Your Highness.”

The prince’s face twists into a maniacal smile and he throws back his head and laughs as he reaches for the bottle of liquor on his lacquer study table.

“They say I’m crazy you know,” he rambles with a grin, pointing the sword lazily at Byulyi as he takes a generous swig from the porcelain bottle.

“My father… my father has always hated me since I was small. Never had a chance to prove myself…. prove myself to HIM. HE NEVER LET HIMSELF LOVE ME THE WAY HE SHOULD HAVE! He… he…” The prince’s eyes were wet with tears and he looks at her like the little boy he was. Byulyi can almost forget yesterday and the way Yongsun had screamed as he had brought a head of a decapitated eunuch, like a cat proudly dragging a mouse to its master. 

“Your Highness.”

“I know. That you love her.”

“Your Highness?”

The prince smiles darkly and dropped his sword with a clatter and rushes toward her. He grips her collar and he is too close with his breath hot and smelling like madness and rice wine. 

“I see your eyes. I see the way they follow her.”

Byulyi’s jaw twitches and she fights the urge to twist his wrist and flip him onto his back.

“Whatever do you mean, Your Highness?”

“Is there… is there a part of you that hopes that I’ll die? So that you can have her all to yourself?”

“Your Highness. What are you talking about?”

“She is quite wonderful you know. If I wasn’t so stressed by my father maybe we would have more children. Yongsun… Yongsun is so soft and her taste-”

Byulyi doesn’t realize that she has the crown prince on his back with her hand on his throat until she hears the shatter of the porcelain wine bottle. She sees him smile up at her like some idiot and she wants to just squeeze and squeeze until she can’t see his triumphant eyes anymore. 

“I won’t tell anyone,” he teases with a giggle. “But only because no one would believe me if I did!”

Byulyi staggers tripping on her skirts and collapsing next to the prince who still lies on his back grinning at the ceiling.

“You can go, Court Lady Hong,” he cheerfully says after a long silence. “Get back to my wife safely. I’m sure she’s terribly lonely without you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a based on a movie about King Jeonjo, points if you know the name!


	6. seulrene- vampire au pt ii

“It’s been awhile,” Joohyun murmured conversationally as she looked down at her phone, feigning casual disinterest. Seulgi could see right through her though. She was swiping around on a blank screen and her voice quivered just a little.

“10 years. But that’s nothing for us.”

“You’re too young to be saying that. You’re not even 100 years yet.”

Seulgi scoffed and glanced at Joohyun who was looking at her, the fake phone scrolling abandoned. The other woman had not changed even a little, pale features framed by dark hair and striking brown eyes. 

“Whose fault is that?” Seulgi spit out through gritted teeth, watching the way Joohyun’s jaw clenched once before she looked away. 

“I hear you don’t eat often.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You have the connections I have given you for the safety of humans as well as your own. The blood bar is a place you can get what you need discreetly with-”

“I go there,” Seulgi cut in tersely, feeling her anger simmering at the surface. Joohyun always loved to check up on her and treat her like they still meant something to each other. 

“How did you even eat when you were in Canada? You had no contacts. Did you starve?”

“Is that any of your concern?”

Joohyun sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, practically pouting. She almost looked cute. 

“I just… you know I care about you.”

“Please don’t-”

“If it’s true aren’t I allowed to say it?”

Seulgi scoffed and she took a step closer to the other girl looking down at her. Joohyun wasn’t wearing heels for once and it felt like for once they were on somewhat equal footing. She knew her heart would be pounding at how close they were standing and her breath caught in her throat when Joohyun reached up and gently grasped her wrist.

“Seulgi-yah… you know I just want you to be safe. I don’t want you to go through what happened… last time.”

Seulgi just grit her teeth and tried not to count Joohyun’s eyelashes and remember the last time she had felt them, brushing against her cheek like a soft butterfly’s wing. She hated how she was tethered to the other woman, forever stuck feeling a twisted mixture of loyalty and reverence because Joohyun was her sire. A strange combination of a lover and mother in a world that had been so new to Seulgi. A place where her mouth always craved blood and Joohyun’s touch. 

Their faces were nearly a breath away and Seulgi could smell Joohyun’s perfume, the musky scent of roses hiding the barely there irony bite of blood. She swallowed and she felt Joohyun’s grip on her wrist tighten. It would be so easy to just give in to her instincts and go somewhere dark with Joohyun and do what her body clearly craved. 

Seulgi stubbornly leaned back, feeling Joohyun’s hand instantly drop her wrist.

“I’ll keep out of your sight and you won’t even notice I’m here.”

“Will you be leaving Korea soon, then?”

“As soon as I scrape enough money together from the jobs I’ve been doing.”

“I have money, you know. You could just ask-”

Seulgi felt her fangs sharpen in her mouth as she felt her anger spark and a soft growl escaped from her throat in frustration. It was the same argument over and over. Joohyun trying to keep Seulgi bound to her even more so than she already was.

“I told you that I don’t need your money. Just pretend that we’re strangers and I’ll be out of your hair before you know it.”

“But we’re not strangers, Seulgi. We’re-”

But Seulgi was already walking away with the last of the willpower she had left, mouth aching ands hands clenched into fists. She tasted salt in her mouth from the temptation to turn back and look at something that would only continue to destroy her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh I actually really would like to actually make this a full-fledged fic but would anyone wanna read it? raise your hand if you're a seulrene fan!!!


	7. seulrene- vampire au pt iii

Joohyun sat quietly outside the door, hearing Seulgi’s panicked snarls just on the other side. She could hear the other girl pacing like an animal, an occasional growl ripping from bared teeth like a trapped tiger. Glancing down, she watched the savage bite on her wrist slowly heal before her eyes, the ripped open flesh clearly knitting together to not even leave a scar. 

“You’re still here.”

Joohyun didn’t look up at Yongsun’s voice, instead licking the blood off her wrist in one clean stroke of her tongue.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because there isn’t much you could do inside or outside of that room. I thought you’d be gathering more blood or something.”

“Her body’s rejecting it again.”

“Again? She’s gone nearly a week without vomiting it up!”

Joohyun let out a pained moan, rubbing tired eyes with her hands. 

“Joohyun… have you thought of maybe…”

She pulled her hands from eyes, assessing Yongsun’s unsure face. She could tell what the other woman was about to suggest and she pulled her lips back over pointed canines in a silent snarl.

“What? Should I give up?”

Yongsun’s face, which had been contorted in a rare display of humanity, flattened at the open display of confrontation. They were old predators and although their human pets made them softer with flashes of human emotions and kind words this was what they really were. Vengeance incarnate. Demons in beautiful bodies.

“If you feel anything for that girl, you would take her out of her misery. She was never meant to be one of us. Your selfishness is the reason she is suffering instead of blissfully moving on to the next life.”

Joohyun said nothing, just listened to the sound of Seulgi staggering against the side of the brick wall of her prison. Both Joohyun and Yongsun listened silently as the other girl vomitted again, slipping to her knees and whimpering miserably. 

“… please,” Seulgi rasped from the other side of the door. “Please someone… kill me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to kill her while she still has some of her humanity left?”

“I’ve damned her. If she dies now she will go straight to Hell.”

“And that is something that you will have to live with until the day we are both ash.”

Joohyun snarled as Yongsun began to walk toward the door of Seulgi’s make-shift prison. 

“What are you doing?”

“If you won’t kill her then I will do it for your sake.”

Joohyun bared her fangs as she rose angrily to her feet. She vaguely heard a flurry of hurried steps in the distance but she ignore the possible threat to her own safety. 

“Byulyi, don’t come closer!”

The steps obediently ceased.

“Is that what you wanted for Seulgi?” Yongsun mused quietly, glancing down at her feet instead of meeting Joohyun’s defiant gaze.

“What?”

“Were you hoping that Seulgi would be like my Byulyi? A companion for your forever?”

Joohyun said nothing but her silence spoke volumes.

Yongsun tipped her head back and chuckled.

“You always were more of a dreamer than I was, Joohyun-ah. Always had your mind wandering and thinking of something else. It makes you an excellent long-term strategist. But you weren’t thinking logically for the short-term. Byul-ah.”

In an instant the other girl was beside them. Joohyun quietly regarded the other girl who stood silently, face carefully blank

“Joohyun-ah, you seem to have a delightful fantasy about what you and Seulgi could be if she could spend eternity with you. But don’t you know that being the sire to your lover can be one of the worst curses you can ever inflict on them?”

Byulyi’s eyebrows furrowed but she said nothing as Yongsun slunk behind her, gripping at her waist and pressing her mouth against her ear. Joohyun watched silently at how Byulyi did nothing as Yongsun trailed a tongue along the shell of her ear, suddenly pressing her face into the nape of her neck.

“She’s completely vulnerable to me. I could tell her to kill herself and she would do it without a second thought. I could tell her to kill anyone for me and she would do it. I could tell her to have sex with me and she would say it was the best she had ever had.” Yongsun’s voice quivered and Joohyun’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the subtle way that Byulyi’s jaw clenched but still stayed silence. 

“We are the same, Joohyun. Selfish. Greedy. Hungry. So I know you will not be satisfied with this arrangement. Because how quickly does it get old to hear not a modicum of resistance or conflict. She still has thoughts and she expresses her feelings but it drives me mad sometimes because I can tell some things are harder for her to express now that I am her sire. She cannot fight with me the same way. She can’t make love with me the same way. It’s not quite the same and yet here she is saying all sort of lovely things that I can’t help but eat up.”

Joohyun swallowed and looked almost with pity as Yongsun let out a shaky breathe, pressing her forehead against Byulyi’s shoulder. She heard Seulgi give a pitiful whimper from behind her but she didn’t move. Instead she watched Byulyi’s face contorting desperately wishing to say something. 

“Don’t you dare,” hissed Yongsun. “We both know that no matter how many times you deny it, it’s true. You don’t think that things are different?”

Byulyi bowed her head and Joohyun watched silently at how she pulled her hands into tight fists and said nothing.

“Human lovers make you feel young and fresh with humanity, Joohyun-ah. I know this. But us vampires need to realize that when you pluck a flower from the garden it was planted and try to dry it to keep it alive, preserved with you forever, it will never be that beautiful lively flower ever again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah it's official i'm making this into an actual fic... stay tuned for more in May!!!


	8. moonsun- high school au

            Honestly Yongsun had started volunteering at the nurses’ office at her high school because she was a senior and she felt she had to give back somehow.  She had always thought of herself as super accident prone and it was the least she could do to make up for all the times Nurse Shim had to help tape up a scraped knee or give her a sling for a few days.

 

            At least she had _thought_ she was super accident prone.

 

            Until she met Byulyi.

 

            It had started on the third day since she had begun volunteering at the nurse’s office.

           

            She was scribbling down a memo about the last student who had come in, a sophomore named Jung Wheein, who had felt a bit down because of her sick grandma and was resting in one of the spare beds in the back.  Just as Yongsun was finishing signing her name she heard the entrance to the nurse’s office slide open.

 

            Sliding her glasses down her nose a bit and she saw it was Kang Seulgi, Joohyun’s childhood friend, helping support another girl who had a nasty cut on her shin.  She had her arm slung over Seulgi’s shoulder but she still managed to flash Yongsun an easy-going grin.

 

            “Hello!”

 

            Yongsun blinked rapidly at the enthusiastic response.  The blood hadn’t even completely dried on her leg…

           

            “Hi… Nurse Shim is on her lunch break right now but I can try to help bandage you up?”

 

            “Oh Yongsun-unnie! I didn’t recognize you with your glasses,” said Seulgi with widened eyes.  The comment made Yongsun’s face flush and she said nothing as she pushed the thin framed glasses  further up her nose. 

 

            “Hey, Seulgi.”

 

            “Can you tell Joohyun-unnie for me that I’m gonna be staying late after practice? So I won’t be able to walk her home.”

 

            “You could just tell her that yourself,” the other girl said with a teasing grin, reaching up and mussing the short bangs on Seulgi’s forehead.  What a flirt, Yongsun thought with a grimace.

 

            “Anyway, Seulgi, can you help sit-”

 

            “Moon Byulyi.”

 

            “Can you help sit your _friend_ down and I can bandage this up?”

 

            “Okay, unnie!”

 

            Yongsun turned away and started to rummage in the medicine cabinet for some gauze, a cotton swab, and some antiseptic.  Finding everything, she put the necessary materials on a tray before thoroughly washing her hands.  In the little mirror above the sink she could see the girl Byulyi watching her curiously as Seulgi murmured something to her.  The concentrated gaze made her self-conscious and she ducked her head. 

 

            Grabbing all the necessary items with care, Yongsun walked over to the table Seulgi and Byulyi were waiting at.  She knelt in front of the injured girl, looking critically at the bits of dry blood that trailed down Byulyi’s calf.

 

            “How did this even happen?” Yongsun asked incredulously, sitting back on her heels and looking up into Byulyi’s unwavering gaze.

 

            “I fell a bit too hard trying to get a ball in tennis.”

 

            “I’m sorry I didn’t get the ball, unnie!”

 

            “It’s fine, can’t get them all,” Byulyi said airily with a disaffected hand wave. 

 

            Yongsun bit back a smile as she tipped the antiseptic onto the cotton ball, experimentally squeezing the puff of any excess liquid.

 

            “This will sting a little.  If it hurts too much you can grab my shoulder.”

 

            Byulyi mouth twitched a little at the words and even before she started dabbing at the cut a warm hand was gripping her shoulder.

 

            “It’s a precaution,” Byulyi insisted as Yongsun looked up at her with an arched eyebrow.  She tried to ignore the way Seulgi was looking away with a red face. 

 

            “I’m going to clean your cut now.”

 

            “Okay go right ahead- OUCH JEEZ!”

 

            “I told you it would sting.”

 

            Yongsun tried not to roll her eyes at the pressure on her shoulder and the way Byulyi’s face scrunched up in clear pain as she barely dabbed at the very edge of the cut.  How on earth was this girl able to play a sport with such a pathetically low pain tolerance?

           

            “Just bear it for a little while longer.  It’ll be over soon.”

 

            “Unnie it’s okay! Fighting!”

 

            Byulyi said nothing, just gritted her teeth and squeezed painfully.  She was going to bruise for sure at this rate.  With a sigh, Yongsun just resolutely dabbed at the cut, making sure to get out the bits of dirt that had gotten into the wound. 

 

            “C-couldn’t you go just a bit faster?”

 

            “I’m trying to do my job here.  If you don’t like it maybe you could wait till Nurse Shim is done with her lunch break.”

 

            “Nurse Shim didn’t make it hurt like this…”

 

            Yongsun paused at her work, glaring back up at Byulyi’s scowl. 

 

            “I don’t have to be doing this you know.”

 

            “Yes you do.  This is your job isn’t it?”

 

            “It’s a _volunteer_ position which means I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart.”

           

            “You certainly have an interesting interpretation of kindness…”

           

            Yongsun threw an annoyed glance over at Seulgi but the girl was pointedly looking at her feet, avoiding being dragged into a fight between two people older than her.  Smart girl. 

           

            She swallowed back any snapping retort, instead focusing on finishing her job.  The pressure on her shoulder abated a bit and she pulled back, breaking the contact.

 

            “I need to wrap you shin in gauze now.”

 

            Byulyi blinked before pulling back her hand like she had been burned.

 

            “Oh yeah… sorry.”

 

            Yongsun said nothing, jus shrugging as she gently gripped Byulyi’s calf and wrapping the fluffy white bandage around in a practiced motion.  She’d had to do it on herself so many times, after all.

 

            She squeezed Byulyi’s calf once before leaning back.

 

            “All done.  Let me just get your id number and then you’re free to go.”

 

            “Thank you, unnie!”

 

            Yongsun smiled at Seulgi quickly before glancing at Byulyi who seemed to be struggling with saying something.  She paused for a moment, waiting as the other’s girl’s lips pursed and a soft uncertain sound came from her mouth.

 

            “Yes?”

 

            “Um…”

           

            Yongsun blinked.

 

            “Here’s my ID number.”

 

            Byulyi slapped down her ID card quickly and Yongsun tried to bite back the annoyance rising within her.  Once she lost her tempter there would be no turning back.  Joohyun’s reputation as student council president would be ruined by her best friend tearing out some tennis player’s hair in the nurse’s office. 

 

            “Thanks,” she replied cooly, quickly scribbling a memo with the ID card in hand.  Initially her eyes stayed focused on the string of unrelated numbers.  But then she caught sight of the ID card that listed Byulyi’s date of birth.  She was a second year.  A year younger than Yongsun and yet she’d been speaking down to her like she was some underclassman.  God she was so close to a hair pulling session that would have Joohyun throwing her tiny doll-like body across the room.

 

            “Here, Byulyi,” Yongsun said pointedly, watching the surprise color Byulyi’s face.  No honorifics meant she was either super rude or older.  She hoped that the other girl wasn’t too slow to gather that it was the latter and not the former.

 

            A pause.

 

            “Wait are you-”

 

            The school bell rang cutting off Byulyi’s words.

 

            “Unnie, we have to get to Coach before the period is over!”

 

            “Shit you’re right. Uh… thanks,” Byulyi squinted at the name tag on Yongsun’s chest, “Yongsun…Yongsun-ssi?”

 

            She just sighed loudly and ignored the urge to grab at the other girl as she limped off with a careless wave over her shoulder.

 

            What a horrible first impression.

 

 

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you wanna come word vomit your thoughts send me an ask on @the-woundupbird


	9. moonsun- selkie au

“Wheein-ah, do seals wave at people?”

 

Wheein blinked owlishly at Byulyi who was in the middle of tugging off her thigh high rubber boots in the locker room.

 

“What?”

 

Byulyi felt her face warm at the incredulous glance she was receiving so she buried her head in the locker.  She fingered the yellowing magazine clipping of Krystal posing onstage front in center with smokey eyes and pouting lips. 

 

“It’s just uh, I was collecting some samples out in the bay today and I thought I saw a seal wave at me.”

 

“Unnie… I think you’ve been staying up playing too many games.”

 

“You’re probably right. Sleep deprivation makes more sense than a seal… waving at me.”

 

When Byulyi shut her locker she was startled to see Wheein leaning close with almost pitying eyes.  

 

“Unnie, if you’re lonely you could ask and I’d wave at you.”

 

Byulyi rolled her eyes and shoved away the giggling girl with a groan.  Obviously she was just being silly. Seals waving at her.  Preposterous.

 

* * *

 

 

Byulyi was in a skiff in the late afternoon, gathering more kelp samples with a long fishing net.  In the fall, the kelp beds were lush with different marine animals swimming around.  Especially seals.

 

She saw one floating by in particular with lazy strokes, nosing along her small boat with twitching whiskers.  Its eyes were large and moist, a gentle brown that made her think of a friendly Labrador retriever she’d seen at the park the other day.  Even though she was a marine biologist and seals were ridiculously common in her line of work, she never could hide her amusement at how doglike they were.

 

“Hello there, little guy,” she said with a smile.

 

The seal cocked its head at her in greeting, blinking slowly like it was processing the statement.

 

“You enjoying your day?”

 

A braying bark was her reply.

 

She giggled, her nose wrinkling as she turned to dump the kelp in a sterilized jar at her feet.  When she glanced up, the seal was still there, mouth open in what could be called a smile.

 

“I can’t feed you, you know.  Part of my pact as a marine biologist is to not disturb the natural fauna.”

 

The seal seemed to pout a little at that, its rotund face puckering in distaste.  Byulyi just shrugged helplessly and pulled at the motor of her boat, letting the engine rev slowly so as to not startle the creature.  It whined as it began to swim away, but not before raising its flipper in what had to be a wave.  

 

Byulyi’s mouth dropped a little and she squinted at the ripping water where the seal had disappeared.

 

* * *

 

 

It was a week since the waving incident and Byulyi felt a little crazy as she sat at the beach of Gwanganli at night with a can of beer and a popsicle in hand.  Busan fall nights were pleasant compared to home at Bucheon in the north.  Her eyes fluttered a little as she sipped contentedly at her beer, smelling the salty tang of sea water with the savory scents of various street food stalls.

 

“Hello.”

 

Byulyi blinked slowly before turning to see a girl in an over-sized fishing shirt and dirty jeans that were so long they were rolled several times at the ankle.  Her long dark hair was wavy and she kept pushing it out of her eyes with an irritated hand.  

 

“If you’re a cult member trying to convert me, I’m not interested in religion.”

 

The girl tilted her head in confusion, squinting her large brown eyes like she barely understood half the words Byulyi said.

 

“Can I sit next to you?”

 

“Uh, sure.  You’re not going to convert me right? Or drug me to take a kidney?”

 

“What are you… humans are so weird.  I mean we, humans, are very strange. Yes.”

 

Byulyi blinked slowly as she tried to process the sentence and the girl took the silence as an invitation to plop down right next to her.

 

“Are you going to finish that?”

 

“What?”

 

The girl pointed to the melting popsicle that was leaving a trail of cream down her thumb.

 

“Uh no.  You want it?”

 

The girl’s eyes lit up and her face pulled into a huge smile and wow she sure was pretty. For someone who was probably a cult member.  

 

“I would want nothing more than to eat that delicious looking substance.”

 

“You mean a popsicle?”

 

“Yes.  I want that. Popsicle.”

 

Byulyi wordlessly handed it to her and watched as the girl immediately bit at the top of the ice cream, eyes squeezing shut in bliss.

 

“This is so wonderful!” she practically moaned, wiggling her shoulders in a barely contained dance.

 

“Yeah, ice cream is pretty amazing.”

 

“I thought you said this was a … popsicle.”

 

“I mean they’re kind of the same thing.  It’s made with ice cream.  I guess you could call it both interchangeably.”

 

The girl frowned, pouting a little and Byulyi was struck by a strange sense of deja vu.

 

“Have I met you before?”

 

“Yes.  I don’t approach humans that I do not know.”

 

“Where did I meet you then? I think I’d remember someone as pretty as-”  Byulyi choked on her words, trying to stop herself from completely putting her foot in her mouth and hitting on a near stranger.

 

But the girl seemed oddly pleased at the statement, grinning with a mouthful of the last of the ice cream.  It was simultaneously extremely gross but also strangely endearing.

 

“You think I’m pretty? I suppose this form is rather aesthetically pleasing.  When I was trying to find you I had many humans approach me.”

 

Byulyi sighed.  Pretty and vain, what a killer combination.  

 

“Anyway, where did I meet you?”

 

“We’ve met a few times.  I always see you on that boat picking at the seaweed.  I actually wanted to ask you why you go out there for that stuff when it doesn’t even taste very good.”

 

Byulyi paused as she watched the girl sadly examine her popsicle stick before gnaw on it experimentally.  

 

“Wait, that’s impossible.  I only meet seals out there.”

 

Instantly the girl’s face went slack, like she’d been caught.  

 

“Um… seals? I’m not a seal! I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re so strange!”

 

Byulyi squinted in confusion as the girl quickly handed her the gnawed on popsicle stick before standing.

 

“Well I must be off to attend to… human things? Anyway, I’ll see you around!”

 

She waved one hand with a bright smile before walking off, fading into the crowd of people walking down the board walk in a few seconds.

 

Byulyi frowned as she realized that she had just found out the answer to her question.  Seals could wave after all.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love selkie solar who just is lonely and wants a friend who will buy her food and lonely marine biologist byulyi who is a bit friendless in busan and humors her


	10. moonsun- mafia au

It was pouring rain by the time Byulyi dragged herself under the awning of a closed store front.  Her hair was matted to her head as she moved, taking precautions to make sure she was not being followed by anyone or anything.

 

It was late enough at night that people wouldn’t notice the dark blood dripping from a wound on her shoulder, staining her dark sweater crimson.  

 

She hissed as she pulled her hand from the deep gash and the blood gushed.

 

“Fuck,” she whispered as she pressed her head against the wall next to her, eyelashes heavy with rain water and blood.  

 

Byulyi had already lost so much blood from dragging the two dead men out of sight, disposing of them in an incinerator next to the alleyway where she’d fought and killed them.  She’d been unarmed so she’d sacrificed a nasty slice to the shoulder so that she could steal one of their knives and make quick work of the fight.  But still.

 

Weakly she felt her knees buckle and she slid down the wall, feeling the slick blood stain the surface behind her.  She breathed with the heavy downpour of rain, the sound echoing in her ears like a barrage of bullets.

_“I’ve killed for you,” Byulyi had yelled, face right next to Yongsun’s. “How many people could say that?”_

_The other woman had just stared right back at her, not a hair out of place despite the sudden action.  She simply reached forward and dragged a thumb along the rusty blood stain on Byulyi’s cheek._

_“Queens don’t have lovers in this world, Byulyi-ah.  Only knights and pawns.”  
_

_“Then I’ll be your knight,” she growled, almost baring her teeth.  She hated the way that Yongsun’s blood red lips curved now with not a hint of the old sweetness of years ago.  When tentative fingers had reached for hers in the dark and pressed whispered confessions against the nape of her neck in a gentle embrace.  
_

_Yongsun’s answer was silence, as she studied the other woman.  The thumb paused and they just stood there, close enough to share a breath with Yongsun’s hand on Byulyi’s cheeck._

_“This isn’t a fairy tale from when we were children, you know. If you’re willing to kill for me, then you must be willing to die for me too.”  
_

_Byulyi’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile and she took a step closer, noses brushing._

_“Yongsun-ah, you ask that of_ me?”

_The hand that had been on her face slid down to the back of her neck, pulling Byulyi closer._

_“Would you die for me, Moon Byulyi?” Yongsun asked her with wide brown eyes that shone like stars.  
_

_She replied with a grin, whispering right before their lips touched,  
_

_“Without a doubt.”  
_

 

Byulyi let out a wheezing cough as she felt herself bleeding out like some street rat.  She wondered with a smile as things start to fade into darkness, if Yongsun would be happy to know that her knight had protected her one last time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Byulyi slurped her noodles at her table quietly, keeping her head down.  Anonymity didn’t really matter because everyone knew who she was without even a glance.  She’d been this neighborhood’s enforcer for the past year and a half.

 

She didn’t move or fluster when she heard the sound of people suddenly scuffling out of their chairs, some grumbling and others panicked.  

 

Byulyi paid no mind, continuing to finish her meal.  She’d been discharged from the hospital for nearly two weeks.  The knife wound still bothered her and she had to be careful with how quickly she moved.

 

Byulyi hadn’t seen Yongsun the whole time.  

 

Shutting her eyes, Byulyi lifted her bowl and gupled down the last of the broth.

 

“Hungry?”

 

Byulyi said nothing, instead placing her bowl back on the table and looking down at the glossy ceramic.  

 

“I asked you a question.”

 

The empty chair in front of her squeaked as it slid back.

 

“You cleared out the whole restaurant just to see me eating noodles?”

 

Byulyi lifted her head, brazenly gazing at Yongsun.  She deflated a little at the sight of the woman.  Her dark hair gleamed in the dim light, curling past her collarbones.  Her face was made up flawlessly, as if she was about to go to a fancy dinner party rather than the hole in the wall diner she was currently in.  But despite how effortlessly flawless Yongsun seemed, Byulyi knew that every piece of her that she showed, be it her breasts with the low cut black dress, or the fullness of her painted lips, was a deliberate choice.  

 

Yongsun was a careful planner.  Strategy and calculation was what had gotten her to her position after all.

 

Byulyi on the other hand had always just followed the other woman, letting her lead her further and further down into the darkness.

 

“You didn’t come back.”

 

The word  _home_ hung unsaid between them.

 

“You didn’t come to visit me.  In the hospital.”

 

Yongsun’s usually carefully composed face twitched, the subtle pucker of her forehead giving away her confusion.  She could never have a poker face to Byulyi.

 

“I couldn’t visit you.  Despite how deep the pockets of the local police men are, it’s risky to have my face recorded in a hospital.  Especially recorded visiting somebody.  It could have been traced back to me.”

 

“So I was a liability?” 

 

Yongsun’s face twisted into a deep frown, the curve of her lips pulling downward.

 

“What’s gotten into you?”

 

You have, Byulyi thought with a sudden feeling of hopelessness.  Just like that stupid knife, you twisted into me and you’ve forever left your mark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if i'll actually finish this but i thought i'd share. i wrote this after seeing the teaser images for mamamoo and thinking maybe it was going to be a mafia/gangster concept for the comeback.


	11. moonsun - cop au

Yongsun fingered her cell phone as she stared out the bus window.  It was just after lunch rush and people were piling onto buses and heading into subway stations to return to work.  She was also getting back to work, heading to the police station for a new case as a prosecutor for the Seoul Metropolitan area.

 

She glanced at the file on her lap.  A college girl going to a university in Seoul had been kidnapped the prior night and all that remained was the brutalized corpse of her father, a wealthy business man.  Disappeared without a trace.

 

Homicides and kidnappings were uncommon in South Korea.  Yongsun had dealt more normally with white collar crime or petty crimes that usually ended in an exchange of money instead of ever reaching an actual court.  But this one was different and she could feel her skin tingling with anticipation.  

 

_Seoul’s History Museum.  Kyunghee Palace transfer stop.  
_

 

Yongsun hastily rose from her spot, shouldering past a few people standing idly in the middle of the aisle to get to her exit.  With a quick click of her transportation card, she left the bus and walked quickly toward the Seoul Metropolitan Police Station.  She kept up a good pace, her heels clacking steadily against the pavement as she shifted in her tight blazer.  It was starting to get colder with fall transitioning into winter and she wondered idly if she’d have to bring out her long padding jacket that made her look more like a kid than an adult.

 

Being a 28 year old female prosecutor came with enough disrespect as is.

 

As she stood at the crosswalk in front of the station, she saw the front mobbed with an array of press outlets.  People stood stalwartly with their camera crews, reporting for a variety of networks.  Yongsun squared her shoulders as she tried to rehearse in her head practiced responses in case people would try to mob her with questions as a prosecutor.  Although she wouldn’t be working alone, she knew that many people would be aware of a Seoul prosecutor coming to gather information from the police.  Her name had to have been leaked to the press by now.

 

Yongsun swallowed once and crossed the street. As she turned to finally enter the police station she saw a few reporters turn toward her with interest.  Let the mob begin.

 

But before she could even lick her lips to prepare for the array of questions, she heard the blare of several police cars behind her.  Gripping her portfolio of the case to her chest, she took a step back as the cameras zeroed in on the main cop car.  Out jumped a woman whose dark brown hair was pulled into a haphazard pony tail and a bruise blooming on her cheek bone.  Yongsun’s mouth twitched.  Moon Byulyi always liked to come in with bravado.

 

The police officer opened the back door of her car as her partner grabbed the woman whose face was covered with a mask.  Her dark hair was covered by a baseball hat and her clothes were shapeless, attempting to hide every hint of the person’s identity.  

 

“Who is this?” a reporter yelled out.

 

Byulyi paused, one hand on the woman’s shoulder.

 

“None of your business,” she said gruffly, her tone clearly irritated by the barrage of cameras and flashing lights filling her vision.

 

“Who is this?” Yongsun asked steadily, walking up to Byulyi and tilting her head a little.  The cameras sounded like gunshots as she walked into frame and there were now just as many questions asking about the prosecutor’s office as there were about the identity of the woman in custody.

 

Byulyi mouth twisted into a smirk and she raised her eyebrows.

 

“Prosecutor Kim.  I’m glad to see they let out a good lawyer instead of one of those stodgy old guys.”

 

“Officer Moon, please speak kindly about my colleagues.  They work closely with you and your officers.”

 

Byulyi just licked her lips without an ounce of remorse and Yongsun couldn’t stop the way her heart pounded in her ears at the sight.  Her mind flitted back to a week or so ago, involving herself, Officer Byulyi, and a pair of handcuffs. 

 

“Who is she?” Yongsun asked again, trying not to smile at the way Byulyi was staring at her lips.

 

“A key witness.  We need to process her and begin interrogations, so we should get going.”

 

“Well then.  After you.”  Yongsun gestured with a hand and let Byulyi lead her as she followed closely behind, the cacophonous of cameras and reporters fading with the whoosh of the police station’s doors. 


	12. wheesa- medieval au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspired by this tweet: https://twitter.com/MoonSunIsReal1/status/1079798058865565697

Wheein leaned backward, tilting her head so that her bobbed hair covered her face.  She enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight on her cheeks in a rare moment of quiet.  Even though her sword was loosely gripped in one hand, she could barely feel its weight in the peace of late morning.  

 

Suddenly, someone let out a yell and Wheein’s eyes tiredly fluttered open.  She crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her sword to her other hand.  Sprawled out before her was the final preparations for the jousting tournament.  She hadn’t been able to hear the end of it from Byulyi who had seemed capable of only talking about that singular subject for the past few months.  

 

Wheein’s mouth twisted a little as she spied the other woman on the other side of the courtyard, tending to her horse.  Although Byulyi was excellent at feigning indifference, there was a little tension in her shoulders.  She was probably nervous since it would be the first time Yongsun would be seeing her fight in a tournament.  The close adviser to the Queen was probably exhausted after just returning from her trip to the North for the last of peace negotiations.  And yet Yongsun had announced her attendance to the surprise of everyone save Wheein.

 

“The Queen has arrived!” shouted one of her courtiers.  

 

Wheein immediately straightened, tipping her head back and trying to shake off the exhaustion that weighed down on her bones.  She hadn’t properly slept in the past week because of this tournament.  As the head of the Queen’s security entourage, Wheein had been seeing to leaving no stone un-turned for the Queen’s safety. 

 

When she caught sight of the usual entourage full of courtiers and court ladies, Wheein dropped to one knee, bracing her sword wielding arm against her leg as she bowed her head.  Although her eyes were trained to the ground in front of her, she could see the feet of the entire entourage.  And then a brilliant red gown paused.  If she wanted to, Wheein could reach out and grasp at the smooth silk.  A small part of her wanted to touch the fabric and be the closest she could to touching the Queen.

 

“Jung Wheein,” the Queen murmured with a voice edged with the tiniest bit of fondness.  “I expected my Shadow to be at my side this morning.”

 

Wheein swallowed once, fist clenching at how her chest pulled at that voice. She raised her head lazily, flicking her hair from her eyes.  

 

Hyejin stood proudly, her red silk gown hugging her curves and golden crown sitting proudly atop long dark hair.  Wheein’s stomach churned at the sight, and she remembered a time ten years ago when she had been in the same position, kneeling in fealty to a then Princess Hyejin.  For a moment in the brightness of the sun, Wheein saw the younger woman in a simpler gown with a roundness to her cheeks that had long since melted away with the stress and hardship of the crown.  It was hard to hide the tenderness in her smile at the memory.

 

“My Queen,” she murmured.  “I am sorry that I left your side.”

 

Red lips curved into a smile.

 

“See to it that it doesn’t happen again.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.  Jung Wheein.”

 

Wheein bit back her automatic grin, bowing her head again.  

 

“Of course, Your Majesty.  I must tend to the final arrangements for security and then I am all yours.”  Even as Wheein said it she knew she was lying.  She had been Hyejin’s the moment she had gotten on her knees ten years ago and sworn her life to the other woman.

 

“I expect you to be with me again as soon as you’re finished,” the Queen instructed.  Wheein could hear the barest hint of worry under her command.  “You’ve been working yourself to the bone since the tourney was announced.”

 

“I would do anything for you, My Queen.”

 

Wheein raised her head again and she saw a familiar gentleness in Hyejin’s gaze that burned in her chest.

 

_“Run away with me,” Wheein whispered into the warmth of Hyejin’s temple.  “Run away with me and I will crown you my Queen of love and beauty. My crown will be flower garlands and not be so heavy on your lovely head.”  
_

 

_Hyejin had smiled at the tempting words and pulled a little away to look at Wheein who was trying desperately not to cry.  Tears glittered in her own eyes and she warmly cupped Wheein’s cheek._

 

_“You swore fealty to your princess, all those years ago.  Now I think you’ll have to swear fealty to a Queen.”_

 

_Wheein shuddered at the words and she grabbed one of Hyejin’s hands and pressed small fingers against her trembling lips._

 

_“Hyejin-ah...”  
_

 

_“I know what I ask is too much of you.”  
_

 

_Wheein let out a small sigh, knowing that there was a stubbornness to her princess’s face that could not be persuaded away.  Ahn Hyejin would become the next Queen and nothing Jung Wheein did would stop it._

 

_“What you ask of me,” Wheein said as she dropped to a knee and pressed her forehead obediently to the back of Hyejin’s hand, “is loyalty that I already gave to you all those years ago.”_

 

_Wheein pressed her lips against Hyejin’s knuckles and when she looked up she saw her Queen cry for the first and last time._

 

“Take care of yourself, Jung Wheein.”

 

Wheein lips twisted at the words, giving the lazy smirk that had gotten her called callous behind her back. 

 

“For my Queen, anything.”

 

As the red silk drifted away with the stamping feet of the Queen’s entourage, Wheein fought against the urge to clutch at Hyejin’s skirts and hold her against her for just a little while longer. 

 

For a Queen belonged to no one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i have this whole universe in my head with Ahn Hyejin as the bright young queen, Jung Wheein as her broody bodyguard, Moon Byulyi as a promising new knight for the realm, and Kim Yongsun as a brilliant advisor to the Queen.


	13. moonseul - high school au

Seulgi moaned as she pressed her cheek against the cold wood of her desk.  It was the class right before lunch and she’d rushed to school without grabbing the lunch her mother had packed for her.

 

As if to emphasize the point, her stomach grumbled discontentedly.

 

“Seulgi-yah, can’t you just go buy something at the convenience store?  We have an hour, you know.”

 

“Don’t have any money.”

 

“That’s what you get for spending it on all on those kpop CDs.”

 

Seulgi turned her head to glare at Seungwan who was opening up her lunch at her desk.  Seungwan’s mom always made something tasty.  Seulgi’s mom usually did too.

 

“I’m an idiot.”

 

“You don’t need to tell me that.”

 

“Hey!”  

 

Seungwan just smirked a little before sighing.

 

“I can let you eat some of this.  You don’t have to starve.”

 

“You let me eat some of your lunch last week.”

 

“Yeah but that was last week.”

 

Seulgi opened her mouth to reply when she saw Moon Byulyi standing at the main door to the homeroom classroom.  Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail at the nape of her neck and the sleeves of her blazer and dress shirt were rolled up to her elbows.

 

“Hey Seulgi, Mr. Shim wanted me to let you know we’re having a sudden class rep meeting today right after school’s over.  Before you go to tutoring, swing by the teachers’ offices.”

 

“S-sunbae!”  Seulgi could feel her cheeks warm at the sight of the other girl and her tongue felt stupidly heavy in her mouth.  Seungwan was smirking into her rice as she bowed her head to unhelpfully say nothing.

 

“Sorry to interrupt your lunch.”

 

“O-oh you weren’t interrupting anything, Sunbae.  I um… I didn’t bring one today.”

 

Byulyi frowned at the words and walked into the classroom until she was standing in front of Seulgi’s desk.  A few of the other girls who hadn’t cleared out for lunch watched curiously.  Moon Byulyi was a senior that was extremely popular as the student council vice president who would occasionally fill-in for sports teams when she had the time.  The other girls were probably wondering what a cool sunbae like her was doing talking to Seulgi.

 

“You didn’t bring a lunch today?”

 

“Mm, I forgot.”  Seulgi pouted a little as she frowned at the wood grain on her desk.  Suddenly she felt soft fingers brush her bangs out of her eyes.

 

“Listen, I have some extra food that my mom packed me.  Would you like to come and eat lunch with me?”

 

Seulgi swallowed and looked up and it felt a little too teen-heart throb crush as she took in the way the cheap fluorescent lighting hallowed Byulyi’s dark hair and made her look like an angel.  

 

“Oh, sunbae, I don’t want to trouble you-”

 

Warm fingers played with the ends of Seulgi’s hair and a half-smile curled on Byulyi’s lips.

 

“Doing something for you is no trouble at all, Seulgi-yah.”

 

Seulgi swore that in that moment her heart exploded in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this snippet when IDOT was a thing


	14. moonsun, ot4 - canon

Byulyi glanced at her phone, smiling at the selfie Yongsun had sent her.

 

“Hey, eyes on me, Moon Byulyi.”

 

She rolled her eyes at Hyejin, face mask lowered so that she could show off to Wheein that it was possible to eat fried chicken and pizza at the same time.

 

“I think I don’t want to lose my appetite.”

 

“You’re a noodle.  You could eat more if you wanted to.”

 

Byulyi scoffed and glanced at Wheein who was flourishing her beer can.  Her cheeks were a little too flushed.  Then again they all were a little less sober then they should be.

 

“What is this? Like our third round of the evening?”

 

“It’s not our second?”

 

“No, for our second one we went to that seedy bar where you tried to kiss me for more drinks,” Wheein corrected, tapping Hyejin’s mouth with a smirk.

 

“I saw that it worked in a movie once.”

 

“A very non-Korean movie probably.  We’re lucky Byulyi-unnie grabbed you by the shoulders and got us out of there.”

 

“Yeah with her little noodle arms!”

 

Hyejin and Wheein cackled at each other and Byulyi just sighed into her beer.  The three of them drinking was a special thing.  Usually they paired off or were all hanging out as Mamamoo.  But drinking was something that Yongsun could barely stomach so she always politely declined the invitation unless Byulyi begged her to come.  Tonight, though was a fun time for all three of them with the usual antics induced by alcohol.

 

“Should we do a fourth round?”

 

“Yah, Ahn Hyejin, your dad loves you so much.  Please don’t make him sad by doing something stupid and becoming the most searched term on Naver.”

 

“Byulyi-unnie,” Hyejin whined, making the mush of pizza and chicken visible in her mouth.  

 

“God, you’re so gross.  Please stop.”

 

“Not as bad as you and Yongsun-unnie.”

 

Wheein and Hyejin turned toward each other with matching over the top smitten expressions.

 

“I love you so much but I’m going to slap your ass so that I can have some excuse to touch you but not get in trouble, Yongsun-unnie.”

 

“Well I love you so much that I’m going to take all of your annoying antics and secretly look at your with lovey dovey eyes when you aren’t looking, Byul-ah”

 

Byulyi reached forward and tried to break up the pseudo love fest before they actually started to make out as a joke.

 

“Could you guys please keep it down? We really aren’t that bad.”

 

Wheein and Hyejin shared a look and then burst into giggles.  

 

Byulyi sighed, putting her head in her hands and resisting the urge to check her phone.  She knew Yongsun was in a selfie mood and if she didn’t respond quickly she’d start to get pouty messages asking why she wasn’t texting back.

 

“Whatever.  Well right now isn’t the time to be talking about Yongsun-unnie.  This time is for us!”

 

Wheein grinned and raised her beer can high.

 

“You’re right, unnie.  The only people that exist in this world right now are me, you, and Ahn Hyejin!”

 

“To friendship!”

 

“To not dying!”

 

All three girls shared big drunken smiles and finished their beer in one go.

 

Byulyi exhaled happily.

 

“Who wants to do a round of  _somaek_?”

 

Hyejin leaned her chin into her hand and giggled.

 

“Only if unnie’s buying!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Byulyi, Hyejin, and Wheein were very quiet in the car ride to the schedule the next day.  It was early in the afternoon on an overcast winter day, but all three of them were sporting matching sunglasses and stiff expressions.  The car paused in front of Yongsun’s parents’ apartment and the woman got into the vehicle quickly.

 

“How was your weekend, Yongsun-ah?” asked their manager in the front.

 

“It was great!  My mom made some side dishes that I can share later.”

 

Yongsun glanced at the rest of the members and frowned a little at their weak hellos.  She took her spot in the front row but sent a worried glance to Byulyi in the back.  

 

“Hi,” she said, watching as Byulyi leaned forward with a wince.  They tangled their fingers together and the other woman kissed her knuckles lightly.

 

“Did… did you have fun? At your parents’ house?”

 

“Yes. Moon Byulyi, are you okay?”

 

Byulyi didn’t even protest as Yongsun reached forward and slid the dark black sunglasses down her nose, revealing bloodshot eyes and dark circles.

 

“Don’t tell me you all went drinking?” she hissed.  “The day before a schedule? Are you guys stupid?”

 

“Unnie, please not so loud,” Wheein protested with hands clamped over very sensitive ears.

 

“It’s not even really a schedule, Unnie.  It’s just a festival and we literally perform two songs with a sound check.  Plenty of time for naps in between.”

 

Yongsun sighed but couldn’t help a little bit of an amused smile.  The three of them looked extremely regretful despite how convincing Byulyi was trying to sound.

 

“Fine.  But if any of you feel nauseuous you have to swallow your vomit.  Don’t even think about making us a top naver search term. Or else.”

 

The three girls nodded and Byulyi started to turn around but Yongsun held her hand firm.  

 

“Does your head hurt a lot?” she asked softly, raising her free hand and brushing Byulyi’s hair from her forehead.  Byulyi nodded with a pitiful pout, relieved of the surprisingly sympathetic reaction.

 

“Then maybe you should have thought about it more before you did that. Stupid.”  But there was no bite to the words, only fondness.  Yongsun stroked Byulyi’s hair for a little while, dulling the ache pounding at her temples.  

 

It was times like these that Byulyi felt safest, surrounded by her members and the person she loved. 

 

 

 


	15. moonsun-canon

Byulyi was not whipped.

 

“Byul-ah.”

 

She attempted to slowly raise her head. She wasn’t desperate or needy at all.

 

“Can you help me with this camera? I’m reading the instructions but it doesn’t really make sense.”

 

Byulyi rose without a second thought but then paused. The action seemed to catch Yongsun’s attention and the other woman frowned at her.

 

“Everything okay?”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

“Then why are you just standing there?”

 

“Because I’m allowed to move slowly, god!”

 

Yongsun’s face screwed into annoyance.

 

“You offered to help me with all this computer stuff. If you didn’t want to, you didn’t have to come over.”

 

“If I didn’t come over you would have complained for weeks!”

 

“Well I’m sorry I’m bad at technology!”

 

They were both standing now and Byulyi’s hands were starting to ball into fists. Luckily no cereal boxes were nearby. They had both agreed to become oatmeal people.

 

“Are you seriously going to pick a fight with me, Moon Byulyi?”

 

Byulyi clenched her jaw, about to spit out something angry and spiteful, when she saw the cluster of pictures just behind Yongsun. The other woman had carefully put them there by herself, bragging about it being a DIY project she’d surprise Byulyi with later. And of course right in the middle of the little collage were a handful of photos of her and Yongsun together, holding each other and grinning into the camera. 

 

The sight made her shoulders drop. Byulyi crossed over to the other side of the room, head bowed a little as she brushed her nose against the curve of Yongsun’s shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry, Yong,” she mumbled, contrite. Yongsun exhaled sharply and raised a hand to scratch at Byulyi’s scalp with a bit of affection.

 

“Byulyi’s a little grouchy today, hmm? How can Unnie make it better?”

 

There was a part of Byulyi that cringed at Yongsun’s baby voice, but she simply sighed and nuzzled into the other woman’s neck, happily wrapping her arms around her middle. 

 

“I’m sorry, unnie.”

 

Yongsun just chuckled and rubbed a thumb over Byulyi’s hand.

 

“You’re all bark and no bite, Moon Byulyi. So cute.”

 

Byulyi huffed at the comment and raised her head. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before she leaned forward and brushed Yongsun’s mouth against hers in a sweet kiss.


	16. moonsun - dear ex au

Bitna sat on the steps of sixth floor of the rundown apartment, listening to her father going back in forth with her dead mother’s mistress.

 

“Byulyi, please be reasonable.”

 

“What would be reasonable, would be you getting out of my fucking apartment and leaving me the hell alone!”

 

Bitna chewed on the inside of her cheek as she heard something crash to the floor and more yelling.  She wondered if her father had thrown the object or the mistress had.

 

Suddenly the front door slammed open and she saw her father being roughly shoved forward in his business suit and shiny leather shoes.  It was strange to see her always smiling father ruffled and haggard as he stumbled to his knees.  Standing above him was a small woman with dark hair just barely above her collar bones with a murderous expression.

 

“Are you trying to get me kicked out of my fucking apartment complex?” she growled out as she sneered down at Bitna’s father.  And then she glanced up at Bitna who was staring at her with wide eyes.  There was a moment where something seemed to shift in her expression and maybe Bitna was imagining it but she seemed to soften just a little. The mistress’ shoulders drooped a bit and she bowed her head, eyes heavy on the dirty floor in front of her.

 

“Listen, Yoondo-ssi, I don’t know why she named me her beneficiary either.  If you had any sympathy for me you’d stop coming here and asking about it.”

 

Bitna’s father rose to his feet and brushed off his dirty knees emphatically.

 

“The last thing I want is to be here.  But I have to be.  Bitna needs the money in Yongsun’s name for her college tuition.  She’s only 13 now but what about when she has to go to university? I’m a single parent, Byulyi.  Please understand.”

 

The mistress’s jaw clenched and unclenched at the comment and Bitna watched, fascinated at how conflicted she seemed.  But that didn’t make any sense.  She was a mistress who had been having an affair with her mother.  How could she be guilty?

 

Baby, pick up the phone. 

 

Everyone’s heads snapped up at the sound of Bitna’s mother’s voice coming from inside the apartment.  In response to the pair of incredulous looks, a dark blush covered the mistress’ face.  

 

“I-it’s my ringtone,” she muttered awkwardly as the voice kept repeating over and over, whiny and incessant.  It was a voice that Bitna had never heard from her mother in all her years of existence.  Her mother had always been vaguely professional and distant with her father.  Occasionally warm, but never childish.

 

And yet that whining ringtone suggested that perhaps Kim Yongsun had not been the woman Bitna had thought she’d known. 


	17. moonsun - gumiho au

“Wolves are extinct in Korea, Officer Moon.”  

 

Yongsun leveled the other woman with a steady gaze over the glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose.  

 

Officer Moon didn’t let the severe stare deter her from sliding a curious hand along the spine of a thick tome detailing the history of the categorizations of Canidae. Yongsun swallowed a little as she watched a pale finger brush the spine slowly as if embedding the indentations of the title into her fingertip.

 

“A wild dog maybe?”

 

Yongsun sighed as she glanced back down at the pictures scattered over her desk.  Officer Moon Byulyi had come to her office at the Seodaemun Natural History Museum in order to get an expert’s advice on the mauling of the second victim in the past month in a violent incident involving fangs and claws.  Yongsun picked up the picture again and squinted at the bite marks.  Sloppy.  Whoever had done this hadn’t exactly tried to hide their handiwork.  

 

“Maybe a wild dog.”

 

“You don’t sound so sure.”

 

Yongsun glanced up and was startled at how close Officer Moon was, hands planted firmly in the large work desk.  She was looking at the pictures Yongsun had dropped back onto the table.

 

“Dogs don’t kill like this.  I think the animal is smarter than a dog.”

 

“So a wolf?”

 

Officer Moon paused and raised her head, meeting Yongsun’s gaze with such intensity that she was grateful that she had her glasses as a slight buffer.  

 

“What do you think it is? Honestly?”

 

Yongsun swallowed and couldn’t help the way her teeth sharpened a bit in her mouth.  She wondered if Officer Moon had caught the moment that her eyes flashed golden.  

 

“It seems you are probing me for an answer you already have, Officer Moon.  Why don’t you tell me what you think it is?”

 

Officer Moon raised a hand and brushed her bangs behind her ear, revealing a silver bracelet on her wrist.  The sight made Yongsun clench her jaw even tighter as she ducked her head, feeling the weight of the identical bracelet burn into her skin hidden from view.  She couldn’t quite hide the feeling of wonder that bubbled in her chest at the thought of little Moon Byulyi keeping her bracelet she’d made with her best friend at the tender age of eleven years old.  Not knowing that said friend was a monster.

 

“I think that if I told you what I thought it was you’d think I was crazy.”

 

Yongsun sat straighter in her chair, bringing her hands into her lap to still her shaking. What hid Sunhae from Byulyi, she wondered idly as they met each other’s gazes.  Was it the nearly seventeen years of time?  How was it that Byulyi had forgotten her when all Yongsun could remember was Byulyi and her smile?

 

“Both victims are missing their livers.”

 

“So you think they were a part of some black market organ selling scheme?”

 

“I didn’t say that.” Officer Moon held up one of the pictures that had the clearest display of bite marks on the victim’s backside. Yongsun couldn’t help the way her mouth watered a little at the sight of blood and gore before her.  Hyejin’s words echoed in her ears.  She could dress up in human clothes and pretend to be normal but the monster was always lurking and so very hungry.

 

“Do you know what a  _gumiho_ is?”

 

Yongsun tried to hide her nerves by lifting a picture and examining it closer, obscuring her face and her trembling hands.

 

“You think the murderer is a mythical fox demon?”

 

“ _Gumihos_  eat livers.  And they’re foxes.”

 

“With that kind of logic you could tie practically anyone to this crime.  Should we get Samshin Grandmother and goblins into the mix?”

 

Officer Moon rolled her eyes a little as she snatched the picture from Yongsun’s hands, hurriedly stuffing the stack back into its original manila envelope.

 

“As a police officer it is my job to ensure that I leave no stone un-turned.”

 

“Even the impossible mythological stones?” Yongsun muttered, tilting her head a bit as she studied the other woman.  Officer Moon just gave her a crooked smile and something twisted painfully in her chest at the sight.

 

“It’s my duty as a police officer to help.  Being close-minded is a disservice to the victims.  Besides, it’s not like I’m saying the actual culprit is a  _gumiho_.  I think the coincidences of the lore connecting with the way the victim was mauled are a bit too coincidental, Professor Kim.”

 

Yongsun just hummed as she tilted her head and looked at the other woman, careful to hide just how sharp her teeth were.

 

 


End file.
